JOY - The Digital Version

JOY
Joy1 n.1. Vivid emotion or pleasure, gladness. 2. Thing that causes delight (OED)
The JOY project came out of a growing exasperation with popular culture and
especially advertising’s messages that ageing for women is a process we should
try to halt or at least mask. And that the only future for the older woman is a
dystopian one of bodily failure and intellectual loss.
At the same time, some voices suggest that we are blighting all our children’s
futures with our selfish insistence on remaining alive but pathetic into our 90s,
causing an intolerable burden on society.
For many of us in our 60s, 70s and 80s, these identikit/identigit old hag/bags
are unrecognisable as people like us because we are enjoying our lives, working,
loving and contributing to the lives of others and to our colleagues, communities,
friends and families.
While we acknowledge that too many people are living in poverty, in poor health
or loneliness, age is not the only causal factor and the JOY project is a corrective
to the discourses of abject decline, celebrating the power of positive thinking and
engagement with life.
In summer 2019, the JOY team invited local women in Newcastle to share with us
the things that bring them joy through story-telling workshops which centred on
both the tangible as well as the more fleeting moments of joyfulness.
What bring us joy is many and varied, from the feel of sun on a cheek, to holding
new life in our arms, from swinging in hammocks to making music with others,
from taking photos of nature to playing fetch with our dog, from family gettogethers
to the glorious solitude of a mountain top.
This exhibition was co-created with some brilliant women who gave up their time
to tell us about their moments, days, weeks and lifetimes of joy. The exhibition
comprises collages, word cloud and film (that can be viewed by clicking here)
which feature all the participants, and a set of portraits which feature some of
them. This is what JOY looks like to us: we hope it brings a moment of joy to you
as well. Click here to view the exhibition in The Catalyst.
Thanks to a great group of women for making this a wonderful project to work on.
Karen, Juliet & Alex